Nanocarrier-delivered dsRNA targeting cuticular protein CPAP3-2 enhances Etoxazole efficacy in tetranychid mites.

Differential contributions of reactive oxygen species in iron-modified biochar-activated oxidation systems to environmental DNA degradation.

The role of midwives in advancing planetary health: Insights from the GREEN MOTHER project in Spain.

This study explores the socio-economic and environmental impacts of tourism in Cox’s Bazar. One of the most popular tourist destinations with a focus on sustainable development perspectives in Bangladesh. The aim is to assess the complex interplay between socio-economic outcomes, environmental challenges, and tourism growth while exploring the potential for sustainable tourism practices through sustainable tourism development (STD) model and community-based tourism (CBT) model. A mixedmethod approach was used, utilizing stakeholder interviews and thematic analysis. This methodology identified four key themes such as environmental degradation, social division, cultural destruction, and eco-tourism awareness. It provides a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities associated with tourism in the region. The findings reveal that tourism has significantly contributed to economic growth and cultural preservation. However, it has also resulted in several challenges related to ecotourism awareness, such as pollution, habitat loss, rising social inequality and commodification of local culture. While tourism has driven development, these negative outcomes have raised concerns about its long-term sustainability. The research emphasizes the importance of adopting the STD model that balances economic needs with social, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, the CBT model is proposed to empower local communities, ensuring their active participation in tourism management while preserving their environmental and cultural heritage for eco-tourism. The study provides actionable recommendations for policymakers to ensure that tourism contributes to long-term economic resilience, environmental sustainability and social equity in Cox’s Bazar. These encompass policies promoting sustainable tourism, local engagement, environmental safeguards, and economic diversification to reduce dependency on tourism. Furthermore, the adoption of STD model and CBT model can guide future tourism practices, ensuring inclusivity and environmental responsibility in the region.

Climate migration has become a critical global issue, forcing millions of people to leave their homes due to environmental degradation, extreme weather, and slow-onset disasters like rising sea levels and prolonged droughts. In the same way as refugees fleeing war or economic crisis, climate migrants face life-threatening risks, even though their displacement is caused by environmental degradation, extreme weather, and climate-related disasters. This article explores the environmental causes of displacement, including deforestation, industrial pollution, global warming, and unsustainable farming practices, and highlights the extreme vulnerability of displaced populations in host countries, where legal protections are often limited or ambiguous. It also examines global migration patterns, particularly dangerous journeys to Europe, reviewing the international legal frameworks that protect migrants, such as refugee status and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Finally, the study outlines sustainable strategies, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, supporting these migrants in adapting to the impacts of climate change, and creating safe migration pathways, emphasizing the urgent need for global cooperation to address climate-related displacement.

The present study, traversing Environmental Psychology of Religion within the framework of a religio‑psychological ecology, focuses on Environmental Education as a counterbalance to the ongoing destruction and degradation of the natural environment by contemporary human societies. The study proceeds from the premise that modern philosophical theories, namely utilitarian and deontological approaches, have not succeeded in adequately addressing this problem through effective environmental education. Accordingly, the study analyzes the emerging field of Environmental Psychology of Religion, a contemporary trend combining Environmental Psychology (Ecopsychology) with the Psychology of Religion, systematically examining how these domains contribute to the formation of theological and spiritual perspectives on environmental issues. It is argued that Environmental Psychology of Religion can provide an adequate theoretical framework grounded in the deeper relationship between humans and the environment as articulated in Christian theology.

Karst cave geotourism in Indonesia faces serious threats due to uncontrolled tourism pressure on vulnerable ecosystems. The lack of a data-driven management system leads to environmental degradation, tourist safety risks, and a decline in destination quality. This research aims to design a digital information system to measure tourism performance sustainably, with a case study of Jomblang Cave in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Its contribution is to present a digital solution to monitor aspects of safety, enjoyment, and support decision-making in sustainable tourism governance. This research uses mixed methods with quantitative and qualitative approaches, and develops an information system based on the Waterfall-type System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model through the stages of analysis, design, and implementation. Analysis was conducted using Use Case Diagram (UCD), Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), and Data Flow Diagram (DFD) to design a system that meets the needs. The system can automatically calculate geosite performance values using the Modified Geosite Assessment Model (M-GAM) method, including two additional variables, namely safety and enjoyment. The web-based Jomblang Cave tourist attraction performance measurement information system consists of a home page, a questionnaire, and an assessment matrix that allows users to provide assessments, while the admin and owner monitor the results based on automatically processed inputs. The implementation phase maps the data of 32 tourists and six experts into the M-GAM Matrix, and calculates the MV and AV values to determine the Z-index position. The system automatically generates evaluative recommendations based on the lowest scores and has performed as expected as an evaluation and decision-making tool in tourism management. This research presents a real-time and easily accessible system for measuring tourist attraction performance. The system generates MV 6.37 and AV 16.09, placing the Z-index at a medium level (Z22). The automated system detected major weaknesses in the Education (VSE = 1.82) and functionality (VFn = 2.87) factors, especially regarding cave protection and tourist safety. Automated recommendations allow managers to focus on improving critical areas and support strategic decisions for geotourism development.

In recent years, agriculture has undergone transformative innovations to enhance crop productivity, resilience, and nutritional value. With increasing concerns over food security, environmental degradation, and soil health, there is growing emphasis on sustainable agricultural practices. Among these strategies, the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have emerged as promising solutions. Advances in nanobiotechnology have led to the development of various metal-based nanoparticles (NPs), such as silver (Ag NPs), zinc oxide (ZnO NPs), titanium dioxide (TiO2 NPs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and quantum dots (QDs). These nanomaterials have the potential to enhance plant biomass and crop yield in both laboratory and field settings. PGPR have gained attention for their ability to improve crop productivity through mechanisms such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore and phytohormone production, and the induction of systemic resistance. The synergistic use of nanotechnology and PGPR represents a revolutionary platform for sustainable agriculture. This integrated approach offers practical solutions to critical agricultural challenges such as low productivity, soil degradation, and environmental sustainability. This review highlights how the combination of synergistic utilization of nanotechnology and PGPR can be developed as a winning strategy for sustainable agriculture to solve the current challenges of food security, soil degradation, and environmental sustainability.

ABSTRACT Air pollution emerged as a serious concern globally, causing environmental degradation and human health impacts, resulting in around 9 million mortalities each year. This research study employed a combination of ground-based low-cost sensors (LCS), satellite data, and meteorological data to predict PM2.5 concentrations. This study utilizes Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface reflectance data, which fills a gap in existing literature. This study mainly focuses on the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) area, where rapid urbanization and high air pollution cause health and environmental implications. By combining LCS and MODIS datasets, ensemble learning models, specifically Random Forest (RF), Extra Trees (ET), and Gradient Boosting (GB), were implemented to enhance the accuracy of PM2.5 predictions. This work has never been done before in the region and particularly utilizing surface reflectance that makes it novel to predict the particulate matter, which is best for data scarce region. The dataset was enhanced with polynomial features and split by 80/20 (80% for training and 20% for testing). A 5-fold Cross-validation was used to assess model robustness, after which the models were tested on 20% data. The results show that GB (RMSE = 14.87 (4.3%), MAE = 9.10(2.6%), and R2 = 0.73) has the best performance, followed by ET and RF. The findings underscore the utility of data fusion in improving air quality monitoring and support evidence-based policymaking in resource-limited settings, especially in areas with no air quality monitoring infrastructure.

Essential oils (EO) are fragrant, hydrophobic natural products derived from aromatic and medicinal plants that can be highly sensitive to environmental conditions. Nanoencapsulation offers a promising solution to overcome environmental degradation by abiotic factors. In this work, ionic gelation was employed to synthesize formulations of EO extracted from Satureja montana, Thymus vulgaris, Anethum graveolens, and Coriandrum sativum encapsulated in chitosan/TPP (tripolyphosphate) nanoparticles. Despite their potential as biopesticides, ecotoxicological aspects have not been much explored. Herein, aquatic (Aliivibrio fisheri, Raphidocelis subcapitata, Lemna minor, and Daphnia magna) and terrestrial (Folsomia candida and soil microbial activity) non-target organisms were used to assess the environmental impact of the EO encapsulated in chitosan/TPP nanoparticles. The chitosan nanoparticles had a positive charge, high homogeneity (PDI < 0.2), an average size of about 200 nm, and showed encapsulation efficiencies between 82% and 98%. Regarding hazard assessment, EO in their free form can cause toxic effects, even though they are prone to degradation by environmental factors. Encapsulation into chitosan/TPP nanoparticles resulted in a significant reduction of the essential oils' toxic profile. Overall, the observed toxicity comes mainly from the EO activity toward the aquatic test species. By reducing the ecotoxicity of EO toward non-target species (except for collembolans), the nanoformulations proved a promising solution to be explored as biopesticides, aiming to replace the use of synthetic pesticides. Only the nanoencapsulated C. sativum EO caused an inhibitory effect on nitrogen mineralization and arylsulfatase activity. Moreover, enhancing our understanding of the ecotoxicological impact of nanobiopesticides is essential before recommending their use in crop protection.

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have greatly enhanced agricultural productivity over the last half-century, but their unselective application has been responsible for environmental pollution, soil degradation, pest resistance, and human health issues. Hence, there has been increasing interest in environment-friendly methods like Integrated Pest Management (IPM), biofertilizers, and organic farming. Biofertilizers—consisting of beneficial microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and algae—increase nutrient availability due to nitrogen fixation and mineral dissolution, and provide a sustainable source of chemicals. Organic farming and organic amendments enhance soil fertility, microbial diversity, and ecosystem services, and sustain or enhance crop quality. Organic systems, in earlier research, were shown to have yields equal to conventional systems under favorable conditions, but it requires more labor and higher input costs. Recent research has highlighted the application of biofertilizers and microbial inoculants in tree crops, namely citrus, apricot, olive, pomegranate, and apple, and has noted improved growth, yield, fruit quality, nutrient uptake, and disease resistance. A combination of synergistic inputs like amino acids, humic substances, PGPR, mycorrhizal fungi, and organic amendments further increases crop productivity and stress tolerance. Emerging technologies such as nanomaterials, microbial endophytes, and controlled environment agriculture hold further promise for sustainable productivity. Long-term experiments reaffirm that mixed and organic fertilization methods equal or surpass the nutritional and yield capacity of inorganic fertilizers, but these have lower environmental effects. It indicates the potential of organic and biological inputs in sustainable horticultural production, especially for perennial tree crops, and stresses their role in addressing future food demand against altered climatic and demographic scenarios.

ABSTRACT This study examines how memory politics shaped landscape transformation in Portugal’s Ave River basin through comprehensive archival analysis of the Sampaio, Ferreira & Co. textile factory (1896-2005). Using extensive archival research spanning regulatory documents, industrial inspections, and environmental violation records, this research reveals how memorial suppression obscured industrial transgressions while celebrating entrepreneurial progress. The factory consistently violated hydraulic regulations, polluted the Ave River, and compromised worker safety for over a century, generating conflicts with regulatory authorities. Despite documented environmental degradation and workplace safety violations, public memory preserved only positive narratives of industrial modernization through active forgetting. The study demonstrates how landscape transformation occurs through “triangulated harm”, the simultaneous occurrence of environmental, workplace, and regulatory violations enabled by selective remembering. Analysis uncovers how philanthropic memoryscapes (hospitals, theaters, monuments) spatially segregated celebrated achievements from forgotten harms, confining evidence of violations to scattered archival documents. The research reveals that such omissions in memory narratives contributed to ongoing harm, extending beyond mere reflection of past experiences. These findings demonstrate how power relations shape both physical landscapes and their commemorative representations, offering critical insights for contemporary heritage management that challenge current approaches emphasizing industrial achievement while minimizing documented environmental and social costs.

ABSTRACT A significant proportion of power consumption in data centers is ultimately converted into low‐grade waste heat (WH), which is typically discharged into the atmosphere, resulting in substantial energy loss and environmental degradation. Utilizing heat pump (HP) systems to recover this WH for district heating presents a promising approach to improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact. While previous research primarily focused on the feasibility and technical implementation of such recovery systems, limited attention has been given to the co‐optimization of WH utilization, particularly in systems that integrate HPs with energy storage. To address this gap, this study proposes an intelligent control framework that integrates user‐side demand response with deep reinforcement learning to optimize system performance. Specifically, the twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm is employed to generate real‐time, adaptive control strategies. Additionally, a feasible action screening mechanism is introduced to ensure that control actions conform to the physical constraints of the system, thereby enhancing training stability and learning efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared with a benchmark model, the proposed approach improves system profit by 61.8% and increases renewable energy surplus by 25.7%.

Rapid urbanization and rising energy demand in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have intensified pressure on the national grid and increased reliance on fossil fuel–based power generation, leading to inefficiencies, high energy costs, and environmental degradation. Solar energy interventions present a sustainable pathway to improve energy efficiency and promote energy conservation in urban and peri-urban communities. This study assesses the impact of solar energy technologies, such as solar mini-grid, solar lanterns and solar street lighting on commercial, household and institutional bases in the FCT, Nigeria. Using a mixed-methods approach with a sample size of 335 respondents, the research combines household surveys with statistical data in STATA to evaluate the impact of solar energy on energy efficient technologies and conservation behaviour. The findings reveal that solar energy users are willing to engage in energy efficiency behaviour and adopt energy efficient devices. Efforts to adopt solar energy technologies demonstrate significant improvement in energy conservation, enhanced energy reliability and increased awareness of sustainable energy practices among users. The study further identifies key socioeconomic, technical, and policy factors influencing the effectiveness of solar interventions. The results provide evidence-based insights to guide policymakers, energy planners, and development agencies in scaling up solar energy deployment to achieve improved energy efficiency, energy conservation, and climate mitigation goals in Nigeria.

Several intellectuals and activists have been consistently warning about the harmful effects of contamination of air, water and land. The climate change and biodiversity deterioration that we face today is largely the result of our own behavior. Efficient waste management strategies are required to minimize the impact on environment. Several waste management technologies have evolved in the recent years. The integration of technology and robotics to handle the ‘dirty’ task can significantly lower the risk of harm to workers involved in this dangerous profession. The present study is based on 2008 American animated romantic science fiction film WALL-E directed by Andrew Stanton. The film discusses several themes including human environmental impact and concern, consumerism, corporate control, technology, hope, renewal, love, emotional connection and waste management. The story is set on a deserted Earth in 2805 where a solitary robot named WALL-E is left to clean up the garbage. He falls in love with another robot EVE, sent from the starship Axiom to detect life. The study examines the way by which love and care function as catalyst for ecological restoration. The paper aims to analyze the representation of environmental degradation and the possibility of renewal in a technologically mediated future in WALL-E.

The green revolution enhanced global food production, ensuring food security for a rapidly growing population. However, overreliance on traditional fertilizers has led to environmental degradation and poor nutrient use efficiency. This necessitates a paradigm shift toward sustainable agriculture. Nanofertilizers are a frontier technology having the potential to overcome such challenges by optimizing nutrient delivery and reducing environmental footprint. This review critically assesses the mechanistic basis of nanofertilizers, beginning with synthesis methods and formulation techniques which enable their controlled and targeted nutrient release. It further discusses, the fate and transformation of nanofertilizers in soil and atmospheric matrices. Also, interaction with microbial populations, along with mechanisms of uptake, translocation, and cellular internalization in plants. The review also explores pivotal areas of nanotoxicology, detailing phytotoxicity mechanisms, defining dose-limiting toxicity thresholds, and deliberation on mitigation options. A brief overview of the developing regulatory schemes is also presented, coupled with the present landscape of innovation and future prospects. Such an integration emphasizes the significance of multidisciplinary approach, linking strong regulatory controls with technological development to safely and efficiently harness nanofertilizers for a sustainable and climate-resilient food future.

In Latin America, Food and Nutritional Insecurity (FNI) is a challenge, particularly in households that receive social assistance programs, where food scarcity affects up to 50% of these households. Environmental degradation and climate change are significant contributors to FNI, underscoring the importance of ongoing monitoring. In this paper, we present the roadmap for a higher-impact project to support Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policymaking in Latin America. The ultimate goal is to improve FNS in communities affected by climate change through the development of an interactive platform that evidences the identification of variables, a transnational data acquisition program, the development of predictive models, and the assessment of climate vulnerability in the region. Additionally, an open data platform, together with the dashboard and a virtual assistant, is being developed for monitoring FNS indicators in Latin America. The project was awarded the ALSEA prize and addresses technological and regional challenges through a multidisciplinary and international team. Effective coordination between space agencies, academia, government, and the productive sector is required to ensure that project results are usable and add value at the local level. The Supporting Evidence for the Proposed Approach presented in this paper are promising and pave the way for future developments that extend not only the geographic scope but also the dimensional analysis.

Crafting impact of crime on carbon intensity: An asymmetric analysis.

The natural resources and local communities of Madre de Dios, Peru, face severe environmental degradation due to illegal mining, deforestation, and the expansion of agricultural activities, threatening one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of the Amazon. This research proposes a low-carbon and bioclimatic architectural design for a Sustainable Interpretation and Research Center dedicated to the conservation of the ecosystems of Manu National Park. The study is based on an analysis of the surrounding environment in terms of flora, fauna, and climate, applying bioclimatic strategies focused on sustainability and supported by specialized digital tools (Revit 2024, Canva, Global Mapper 2024, SketchUp 2024, Photoshop 2022, and Illustrator 2022). The project presents a bioclimatic architectural design that integrates constructive techniques ensuring thermal comfort in a warm-humid climate, while promoting the use of clean technologies such as photovoltaic solar systems generating 15,571.8 kWh per year and a rainwater harvesting system collecting 70,675 L annually. The infrastructure is built with bamboo and locally sourced wood, renewable materials that ensure durability and low environmental impact. In addition, the design includes the reforestation of 17.92% of the total area and 3.46% of public spaces, incorporating native species such as Brazil nut, rosewood, and capirona to reinforce local biodiversity. Overall, this research demonstrates how low-carbon construction, renewable materials, and bioclimatic design can contribute to sustainable development, environmental awareness, and the preservation of natural ecosystems in tropical regions.

Patch-level colorimetric quantification of coral bleaching for marine pollution monitoring using standardized CoralWatch references.